Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
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Artist's concept of Terra satellite
Artist's concept of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer instrument flown on the Terra satellite. Image Credit: NASA
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The Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a 50.5 km-long rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover. It connects Dover, Kent in England with Calais, northern France. This image was acquired by NASA's Terra spacecraft.
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The Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth at 418 meters below sea level, and also one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth. This image was acquired by NASA's Terra spacecraft.
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Mount St. Helens
This NASA's Terra satellite image of Mount St. Helens was captured one week after the March 8, 2005 ash and steam eruption, the latest activity since the volcano's reawakening in September 2004.
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Alluvial Fan, China
NASA's Terra spacecraft shows vast alluvial fan blossoms across the desolate landscape between two mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklimakan Desert in China’s XinJiang Province.
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Perspective view over the Grand Canyon, Arizona
This simulated true color perspective view over the Grand Canyon is from data acquired on May 12, 2000 by NASA's Terra spacecraft.
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Naica Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico
The Naica mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, with its enormous gypsum crystals, may well be called the 'Queen of the Giant Crystals localities.' This image was acquired by NASA's Terra satellite on February 16, 2004.
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Susitna Glacier, Alaska
Folds in the lower reaches of valley glaciers can be caused by powerful surges of tributary ice streams. This phenomenon is spectacularly displayed by the Sustina Glacier in the Alaska Range as seen by NASA's Terra spacecraft.
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Cruising Over California
Data from JPL's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer instrument on NASA's Terra satellite provides views of the L.A. Basin, San Francisco Bay and more.
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ASTER's Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM)
NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) to the worldwide public on June 29, 2009.
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Mission Summary
Designed to capture high-resolution images of Earth, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER, instrument is one of five instruments aboard NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument's data are used to create detailed maps of land surface temperature, emissivity, reflectance and elevation on Earth.
Images taken by the ASTER instrument also provide detailed views of the effects of global climate change and extreme weather on Earth's landforms and topography.
Mission Events
June 29, 2009: NASA and Japan release the ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model, a digital topographic map of Earth covering more of the planet than ever before.
Key Discoveries
ASTER has gathered high-resolution images of landforms and topography affected by major weather events on Earth, including tsunamis, earthquakes and floods, as well as land changes due to gobal climate change.
Scientific Instrument(s)
- Visible and near-infrared (VNIR) telescope
- Shortwave infrared (SWIR) telescope
- Thermal infrared (TIR) telescope
